A Formal Apology (To a Film Franchise)
It has been some considerable time since my last written piece, but, I had to write this down, and though it will appear as a Journal elsewhere, I believe it must be shown here as well, given the content that follows. Though, forewarning, its going to be quite different to my older pieces, so there will be a bit less humor and no graphics, BUT, this is me so, don't be so surprised by the style and flow that occurs. So, anyway, may I begin with this ....
I extend the deepest, most sincere apologies to...
X-Men: First Class
Before seeing this movie, I was one of many detractors and nay-sayers, basing it all on my disappointment with the decline of the X-Men Franchise by 20th Century Fox (And I refer to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I in fact enjoyed X-Men 3, despite the hate extended to that), much like my continued hatred towards the Spider-Man movie reboot (which I WANT to reconsider because of this movie, but...that ****ing costume!), the casting of characters and revelations of what the story may entail (Wait, Havok is in this movie? Young Adult? In The 60s?....What the ****!?), and frankly, some of the trailers. But, despite all of these factors, I was persuaded to try and come with an open mind and see this film...
...And I thank my friends with the deepest love in my heart to making me see this, because despite my extremely low expectations and hopes, THIS movie blew them out of the water completely, producing a much superior X-Men movie then I could've ever guessed. Its not a PERFECT X-Men movie, but it is far FAR leagues higher then X-Men Origins: Wolverine (though, remains overshadowed by its older installments, X-Men 1 and 2). I want to provide a better idea of why I've made a heel-face turn on my negative opinions on this movie, so I hope to get a lot more folks to see it, because really, THIS X-Men movie SHOULD be seen. I'm going to do my best not to spoil the film for everyone, though, there might be one or two things which must be pointed out, but not entirely important (Such as there is no need to stay after the movie, there is NO secret scene at the end, like the previous X-Men films. So, once the flashy credits start to roll, stick around only for the flashier bits, but otherwise, no need to stick around the whole time for an Easter Egg).
Now then, where could I possibly begin? Well, I guess I should begin with the cast, a factor which was primary in my venomous words put against this picture. I have to say, for a basically a cast of no-name actors, everyone put up a fantastic performance. Sure, one or two characters could've been developed more (like Azazel or Riptide, who I had to wait to the credits to find out his NAME, which turns out to be one of the Marauders from the 80s. X-Men fans will recognize that group), but I felt a HELL of a lot more attached to characters then I did for Wolverine: Origins. James McAvoy does a very unexpected but actually quite applaudable effort as a young Charles Xavier, a Professor X that is still very young and clearly has some development and growing up to do before becoming the Patrick Stewart Xavier we've come to love in older installments. In fact, its just this unexpected optimism and energy that McAvoy brings to Xavier which I certainly enjoyed. During the whole film, scenes with him at times made me grin broadly and think to myself "Perhaps they should have given him the codename Doctor X". I say that because, I couldn't resist thinking, wow, I don't know how long Matt Smith is planned to be the Doctor (of Doctor Who), but if they ever need a Twelfth Doctor, someone PLEASE point into this guy's direction, cause at times, it was like I was watching a Doctor Who/X-Men crossover-fic...and thats a good thing!
On the other end of the spectrum of good and evil, Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw...yes, I know, I too scratched my head and went "WTF, who thought this was a GOOD idea?", but actually, I'm GLAD they went with Bacon cause frankly, he's one of my favorite characters, and frankly, Bacon's performance shows that he was just having a blast with this role. His sheer charisma and charm also kept me grinning, even as he begins to kill people left and right with his abilities (which, again, is quite different from he comic books, but given the effects, I can accept. More on that later). Sure, he might not be the big burly, 19th Century styled Black King of the Hellfire Club, but DAMN, I will never question a role to Kevin Bacon again, cause my friends, I love his Sebastian Shaw.
Now, going to the grey area of good and evil, Michael Fassbender, aka Erik Lensherr, aka Magneto...I WOULD watch an entire movie just centered on this guy. Here comes one of the spoilerly bits, vague in detail but does occur: Before he joins Xavier and his group to stop Shaw, we watch Erik hunt down Nazis in the 60s...Seriously, name me one person in this world who would not pay CASH MONEY, to see Magneto hunting down Nazis. And let me tell you, this is a PG-13 movie, and I still squirmed in my seat with some of the downright terrifying and painful things Erik does in this film, even as a young Jewish boy at a concentration camp. If there ever would be an R-Rated Magneto movie,set during his early years like this (not going to happen, but what if), I would put my money down that it could possible out-gore something like Inglorious Basterds, but then, what would you expect with a Jewish mutant who survived the Holocaust but his family did not, to wreak his revenge on surviving Nazis? I'm just saying...if anyone had not considered this before, seeing X-Men: First Class, I bet someone's writing that screenplay RIGHT NOW. If not, DO IT!
Now, before I spend most of this apology/review on the cast alone, I'm going to breeze through a couple things before getting to plot/effects/etc. Now, the other mutants introduced into this movie are thankfully, developed for the most part, and not just introduced/dropped immediately like in X-Men Origins...for the MOST part. Yes, I've mentioned a couple dont get any development, much less speaking lines. Yes, there are one or two characters which are just there to die/switch sides. But like I said, its a hell of a lot better about this then X-Men Origins : Wolverine had. For the times where I felt characters who were not X-Men or even the same age as Erik or Charles at this time, and was just very upset to see them here, I found myself unable to feel any of that hate as I watched as each member of this group was introduced. Sure, they don't explain Havok at all in terms of background, only that his name IS Alex Summers, but actually, I'm glad they don't. Leave it to the imagination. Perhaps he's a Summers but not at all related to Scott in this universe. In fact, I look towards X-Men Evolutions for why I'm much more accepting of this, at first, random assemblage of mutants. Lets review facts from the cartoon which spun from the X-men fever of the early 2000s, as well as taking account of the continuity built from the first few X-men movies:Hank McCoy, the Beast, is significantly older then the rest of the students (as he is in the movies, point of fact, one of the X-Men's earliest members...as seen in THIS movie). But, besides trying to rectify with both logic and nerd trivia, I just began to accept these characters, because I started this part, I began to enjoy and feel for them. Some of the best scenes I can recall with this group is when they begin to train their abilities, showing both their growth, and the growth of Erik and Charles own abilities, as well as the character dynamics and relationships which would be later seen in life (I.e. earlier movies). Oh!, also, enjoy the cameos, because there are a LOT of unexpected folks popping up in this movie...including one which I will to this day, will claim is the BEST (i.e. HILARIOUS) cameo in a super hero movie yet...and it uses up the PG-13 rating allowance of one big level curse word. Trust me, if you see this movie, you will know what I mean
Now, for the plot, I admit, one of the factors which one of my friends persuaded me is the fact that the meat of this plot seems that it centers around the Cuban Missile Crisis of the 60s. Now, I don't know if I made this known before, but besides being a comic book nerd, I LOVE Alternative History fiction, or sometimes known as Speculative Fiction. Stories showcasing historical what-ifs, like typical ideas like "What if the Nazis won World War II" or "What if the South Won the Civil War?", so having "What If Mutants Started/Stopped the Cuban Missile Crisis" certainly had my interests, as well as how to try and work out the origins of Xavier, Lensherr, and the various other mutants. There is also the development the exposure of mutants to the world, as at this point, mutants are still unknown to the general public, and at this point, not even those in power are aware of them up until this film. So, we begin to see the fear and hatred extended towards mutants, though, not en mass like we had in the older movies. Now, having it set in the Sixties would lead to people being fearful that it'd be hard to capture the feel of the sixties...but actually, most of the time, I believed this to be so, accepting the style, the mannerism, the look, the FEEL of the sixties. Sure, at scenes, that feel did break away and fade, but I think there was more then just a solid effort put into doing this, but then, I said this is NOT A perfect movie. Still, I felt invested in it. I felt pain for characters at the losses Erik has at the very beginning, I felt rage and sinister satisfaction for later in life as he begins to exact his vengeance,and on thing I felt more then anything with this movie: Fun and Humor. I was surprised at how often I laughed and smiled as I watched this...and this time, at the INTENTIONAL humor of the movie, not at how bad it was...like X-Men Origins. And there is fun. I know I said I should have seen this with an open mind, but I still had a bit of my comic book nerd being critical as the movie began...but even that part of me enjoyed a lot of this movie. Sure, there were HUGE discrepancies from the comic book and even the established movie continuity, but, I didn't care. That's how much I enjoyed this movie. The only downside to this is, like X-Men Origin, there was too much of a good thing. The last half hour of the movie was fantastic, amazing and...too fast. I won't spoil details, but there were certain character developments which I believed happened much too fast, much too soon. I would've liked it that they saved these for the next film (yes, I looked it up, this is part of a new trilogy of movies, and X-Men First Class 2 is in production), in far greater detail and length for which to explore and expand upon. But alas, they happened at the end of this movie, and still, I feel it was a good movie, and though I would've wished things a bit different, it still could've been a HELL of a lot worse.
Special Effects for this movie? Many levels of improvement over the previous X-Men film, as I approve of both the visual beauty that was used for vehicles and buildings (Magneto is the undisputed master of magnetism for a REASON!), physical mutations (Why does Beast's transformation scene look SO much better then that of the Wolf-Man, or is that just me?), or any other of showcased mutant powers (Shaw's altered set of powers comes to mind, and remind me why HE is the big baddie of this movie). Hell, even the powers you don't have to necessarily "see" most of the time were damn enjoyable (Fans of the X-men will not be disappointed by examples of Xavier Dickery. You ALL know what I'm talking about...). In short, they clearly took their time in making sure this looks as polished and well-executed as they possibly could, because there was no point in this movie that I felt cheated out in terms of action and computer generated graphics (something I KNOW I've gone on record of being most upset about). Hell, there are some scenes which I can sight are familiar to me from other movies, but done even FAR better in this case (People who have seen M. Night's The Happening: Remember this said).
So, wrapping up this IMMENSE wall of text/apology/review, X-Men First Class is a far better movie then anything I had previously imagined, and has now become one of this summer's best comic book movies so far (in my opinion), having done the impossible, and greatly improve my negative opinion towards both the X-Men movie franchise and 20th Century Fox. At what was first believed to be 20th Century Fox's Greedy attempts of putting something together so they can retain the X-Men movie rights from being taken back by Marvel Studios (which, admittedly, I would like to happen still, as it would mean the Avengers set of films could co-exist with the X-Men universe, but I digress), but now, it turns out that 20th Century Fox still gives a damn about this film franchise, learning from the huge mistakes made in previous films and produced a far better quality film then one would expect. Now, with the various X-Men themed movies on the horizon, will they keep this positive trend up? Who knows. All I can hope is this: KEEP EVERY DAMN PERSON ATTACHED THIS MOVIE, ATTACHED TO THE NEXT TWO INSTALLMENTS. I'm not one to believe in luck so readily, but as soon as Bryan Singer jumped Marvel's ship to direct DC's Superman Returns, things began to go down hill for the X-Men. So, I believe it might be best to not let these clearly talented folks from getting away from this. But hey, that might be the wrong way to do things for this series, but frankly, when a movie can so greatly change my opinion towards it, the studio making it, and the franchise its a part of, I WANT it to keep doing it, cause I love X-Men 1 through 3, and want the series to become better again, I really do. So, let me truly end this by saying:
Go See X-Men : First Class
You won't be disappointed, trust me. The more love this movie gets, hopefully, the more it'll continue to surprise folks. Thank you for your time, and I wish you all a good night!
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And Kevin Bacon played that act very well. At some points I expected him to pull out a white cat and start stroking it. He definitely had a Bond villain feel to him.
